Madhya Pradesh’s KM Deeksha achieved the Hangzhou Asian Games qualification mark after winning gold in the women’s 1500m race at the 62nd National Inter State Athletics Championships, in Bhubaneswar, on Friday.

Deeksha finished her race with a personal best of 4:06.07 minutes to beat national record holder Harmilan Bains for the top spot. By doing so, the 23-year-old also cleared the Athletics Federation of India-set Asian Games qualification mark of 4:15.49 minutes. Deeksha’s previous best was 4:14.02, set at the National Under-23 championships in New Delhi in 2021.

Additionally, she has also qualified for the Asian Athletics Championship that takes place in Thailand next month.

Bains, who had set the national record of 4:05.39 in September 2021, finished second on Friday with a time of 4:08.50. She too achieved the the Asian Games qualification standard as did the athletes who finished third and fourth in Chanda and Pooja.

The Inter State event is the last selection trial event for Indians to qualify for the Asiad in September-October.

Olympic gold medallist in men’s javelin Neeraj Chopra and men’s 3000m steeplechase runner Avinash Sable had already qualified for the Hangzhou Games, and were thus exempt from competing in Bhubaneswar.

Elsewhere on Day 2, Jyothi Yarraji – the National Record holder in women’s 100m hurdles – won the 100m flat, with a solid timing of 11.46 seconds. The Asian Games qualification mark however is set at 11.42s.

Women’s triple jumper Sheena NV registered a best of 13.60m to win gold and better the AG qualification mark of 13.58m.

In the women’s 400m final, three more athletes joined Anjali Devi in bettering the AG standard of 52.96s. While Anjali won the final, she was followed by Himanshi Malik and R Vithya Ramraj with timings of 51.76s and 52.49, respectively. In fourth place was, Aishwarya Kailash Mishra with 52.79s.

In men’s 400m, Muhammad Anas went below the Asian Games qualification standard of 46.17 seconds. In the final, Anas finished second behind Sri Lanka’s Kalinga Kumarage. Muhammed Ajmal with 45.90 and Amoj Jacob with 45.91s also went below the qualification mark.

In the men’s 800m the three athletes making the podium all bettered the Asian Games entry standard of 1:49.05. Krishan Kumar (1:46.17), Muhammed Afsal (1:47.47) and Pradeep Senthilkumar (1:48.10) finished in that order.

In women’s 3000m steeplechase, Parul Chaudhary lived up to her billing by winning the gold with a new meeting record of 9:34.23 which was comfortably below the Asian Games standard of 9:47.00.

On Thursday, Day1 of the event, Anjali Devi (women’s 400m), and men’s 10,000m runners Kartik Kumar and Gulveer Singh met the qualification standards the Asiad.

All results (finals) from Day 2: (Details here on the AFI website)

Men’s events
100m: Siva Kumar B (TN) 10.37, Harjit Singh (Pun) 10.45, Elakkiyadasan K (TN) 10.47
400m: Kalinga Kumarage (SL) 45.64, Muhammed Anas (Ker) 45.76, Muhammed Ajmal (Ker) 45.90
800m: Krishan Kumar (Har) 1:46.17, Mohammed Afsal (Ker) 1:47.47, Pradeep Senthilkumar (TN) 1:48.10
3000m steeplechase: Balkishan (Har) 8:38.98, Sumit Kumar (Del) 8:43.45, Prince Raj Mishra (Sik) 8:44.55
Discus: Kirpal Singh (Pun) 57.39m, Gagandeep Singh (Pun) 55.69m, Nirbhay Singh (Har) 55.21m
35km race walk: Juned (Har) 3:00:37, Eknath Turamb (Mah) 3:03:40, Vikash Yadav (Raj) 3:06:06

Women’s events
100m: Jyothi Yarraji (AP) 11.46, Srabani Nanda (Odi) 11.59, Himashree Roy (Har) 11.71
400m: Anjali Devi (Har) 51.48, Himanshi Malik (Har) 51.76, R Vithya Ramraj (TN) 52.49
1500m: KM Deeksha (MP) 4:06.07, Harmilan Bains (Pun) 4:08.50, Chanda (Del) 4:09.39
3000m steeplechase: Parul Chaudhary (UP) 9:34.23, Priti Lamba (Har) 9:52.89, Komal Jagdale (Mah) 10.13.10
Triple jump: Sheena NV (Ker) 13.60m, Nayana James (Ker) 13.33m, Mallala Anusha (AP) 13.24m
Discus: Seema Punia (UP) 56.50m, Shalini Chaudhary (MP) 48.66m, Kiran (Raj) 48.25m
35km race walk: Manju Rani (Pun) 3:21:31, Mamta Pal (UP) 3:40:26, Komal (Har) 3:42:41

Mixed event
4x400m relay: Tamil Nadu 3:21.40, Maharashtra 3:21.67, Karnataka 3:21.88.